Cineraria saxifraga is one of about 32 Cineraria species indigenous to South Africa. There are more of them in the rest of Africa and Madagascar. That island country has outstanding botanical diversity, much of which has relationships with southern African plants. The name cinerareus, a Latin word meaning related to ashes refers to the gray, felted leaves of several of the species.

The hairless, light green leaves are, however, in the case of this species not ashen at all. It is the flower structure that makes the flower in picture a Cineraria,  The soft leaves are lobed to serrated and semi-circular. The rounded bush sometimes reaches a height of 30 cm.

The yellow daisy has a sparse outer ring of female ray florets, in picture only five of them. The small clump of five-lobed disc florets protrudes above the rays. One row of green involucral bracts shapes the green tubular cup at the base of the flower. Flowering occurs from spring to autumn.

The small black seeds fly in the wind during dispersal with the help of a small white hairy pappus.

The distribution of the wild cineraria ranges from the southern Cape to the Eastern Cape. The plant typically grows in rocky and shady places. It resembles C. deltoides found all over East Africa at roadsides and forest edges (Manning, 2009; Blundell, 1987).